Alumni

Graduate Students

 
Name University Degree Year  Current Activities
James Chamness University of Minnesota PhD 2023 University of California at Berkeley
Evan Ellison University of Minnesota PhD 2022 University of Oxford
Matt Zinselmeier University of Minnesota PhD 2022 GoogleX
Michael Maher University of Minnesota PhD 2021 Researcher, Invaio Sciences
Maria Elena Gamo University of Minnesota MBS 2021 Associate Scientist at AbSci
Ryan Nasti University of Minnesota PhD 2020 Postdoctoral Associate, UC Davis
Paul Atkins University of Minnesota PhD 2020 Postdoctoral Associate, NIH, Washington, D.C.
Nick Baltes University of Minnesota PhD 2014 Cofounder and CSO, BlueAllele
Michael Nyquist University of Minnesota PhD 2014 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
Michelle Christian University of Minnesota PhD 2013 University of Washington, Andrew M. Scharenberg Lab
Joshua Baller University of Minnesota PhD 2012 Research Informatics Scientific and Operations Lead at University of Minnesota
Fengli Fu Iowa State University PhD 2010 Research scientist at University of Minnesota
Jiquan Gao Iowa State University PhD 2009 Strategic Marketing Consultant, Roche Diagnostics
Justin Hoshaw University of Minnesota MS 2009 Biology Instructor at Waubonsee Community College
Yi Hou Iowa State University PhD 2008 Graduate student of statistics at the University of Texas San Antonio
Troy Brady Iowa State University PhD 2007 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania
Rob Dick Iowa State University MS 2007 Graduate student at Cornell University
Junbiao Dai Iowa State University PhD 2006 Postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University
Ericka Havecker Iowa State University PhD 2005 Postdoctoral fellow at the Sainsbury Laboratory
Peter Fuerst Iowa State University PhD 2003 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho
Brooke Peterson-Burch Iowa State University PhD 2003 Bioinformatics scientist at Pioneer Hi-Bred, International
Weiwu Xie Iowa State University PhD 2003 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri, Columbia
Xiang Gao Iowa State University PhD 2002 Postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University
Yvette Chin Iowa State University MS 2001 Research Assistant at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Thomas Vigdal Iowa State University MS 2001 Law student at UC Davis
Yunxia Zhu Iowa State University PhD 2001 Bioinformatics scientist for Jackson Laboratory
Phillip Irwin Iowa State University MS 2000 VWR, West Chester, PA
Xiaowu Gai Iowa State University PhD 1999 Bioinformatics scientist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
David Wright Iowa State University PhD 1999 Associate scientist at the Voytas Laboratory
Ning Ke Iowa State University PhD 1997 Principle scientist at ACEA Biosciences in San Diego
Jin Kim Iowa State University MS 1996 Director, Business Development, Entelos Inc.
Sige Zou Iowa State University PhD 1996 Independent Investigator at National Institute on Aging
 

Postdoctoral Associates & Staff

Name Position From  To Total Yrs Current Activities
Lillee Donahue Researcher 1 2021 2022 3 PhD Candidate
Steven Russell Researcher 1 2021 2022 3 Researcher, University of Wisconsin
Yang Liu Postdoc 2018 2021 3 Researcher, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Arjun Khakhar Postdoc 2018 2020 2 Senior Scientist, Flagship Labs 70
Matt Nelson Postdoc 2017 2018 1 Molecular Diagnostics Manager at Zepto Life Technology
Nathaniel Graham Postdoc 2016 2018 2 Molecular Biology Scientist at Pairwise Plants
Jarryd Campbell Postdoc 2017 2018 1 Research Scientist at Recombinetics, Inc.
Eva Konecna Postdoc 2015 2017 2 Staff Scientist, Inari Agriculture
Tomas Cermak Postdoc 2010 2017 7 Senior Scientist, Inari Agriculture
Qiwei Shan Postdoc 2015 2018 3 Senior Scientist, Inari Agriculture
Joe Belanto  Postdoc  2015 2017  2 TBD
Aaron Hummel Postdoc 2013 2015 2 Head of Genome Editing Technologies at Pairwise Plants
Javier Gil Postdoc 2012 2015 3 Product Portfolio Manager, Calyxt, St. Paul, MN
Tianheng Ren Postdoc 2012 2014 2 Sichuan Agricultural University, Associate Professor
Becca Greenstein Junior Scientist 2013 2015 2 STEM Librarian at Northwestern University Libraries
Yiping Qi Postdoc 2009 2013 4 University of Maryloand, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Plant Science & Landscape Architecture
Zach Demorest Postdoc 2010 2012 2 Director of Operations, Calyxt, St. Paul, MN
Yong Zhang Postdoc 2010 2012 2 Associate Professor at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China 
Kim Nguyen Postdoc 2009 2012 3 Spitale lab at UC Irvine
Xiaohang Li Associate scientist 2008 2011 3 Research scientist at Dow AgroSciences
Christopher Pierick Lab Manager/Junior Scientist 2008 2010 2 Research scientist at Duke University
Feng Zhang Postdoc 2008 2010 2 Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota
 

Visiting Scholars

Name Home Institution at time of appointment Date
Tendekai Mahlanza Agricultural Research Council, South Africa Aug - Nov 2019
Ariadne Felicio Lopo De Sa University of Sao Paulo, Brazil Sep-18
Xu Tang University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, China June - Nov 2018
Hiroaki Saika Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Naro, Japan May - Nov 2018
Hui Zhao Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hainan, China Jan - June 2018
Sripad Joshi McGill University, Quebec, Canada Mar-18
Shrikant Sharma Aarhus University, Slagelse, Denmark Oct - Nov 2017
Susana Sanchez Leon Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible July-October 2016
My Tra Thi Vo International Rice Research Institute. Los Baños Laguna, Philippines July - Aug 2016
Xiang Ji University of Electronic Science and Technology of China April 2015 - April 2016
Conrado  Dueñas Jr International Rice Research Institute. Los Baños Laguna, Philippines May - June 2015
Perigio Francisco Jr International Rice Research Institute. Los Baños Laguna, Philippines May - June 2015
Radim Cegan Institute of Biophysics ASCR. Brno, Czech Republic Aug -Nov 2014
Vojtech Hudzieczek Institute of Biophysics ASCR. Brno, Czech Republic Jan -June 2014
Xu Tang University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Jan-June 2014
Viktor Tokan Institute of Biophysics ASCR. Brno, Czech Republic Sept - Dec 2015
Toni Wendt Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 2012
Josep Casacuberta Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics. Barcelona, Spain 2011